


my heart, it's a motor

by someticket



Category: Mean Girls (2004), Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, Flashbacks, Homophobic Language, Internalized Homophobia, lets go baby!!, poc gretchen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23250169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someticket/pseuds/someticket
Summary: "The only thing I don't get," Karen says over the phone, as she's explaining her rule of twos. "Is why you let Regina be so mean to you."
Relationships: Regina George/Gretchen Wieners (unrequited)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	my heart, it's a motor

**Author's Note:**

> i stand in a hell of my own creation and it's obscure wlw
> 
> takes place after Cady joins them but before they throw out Regina

Karen tells her about the rule of twos over the phone, and Gretchen's only half listening, blowing frantically on her nail polish and glancing at the time. 

"Like how when Janis called me smart, she actually doesn't care about me- she just wants girl power, or something. Or when an old dude dm's me and says he respects women, he probably doesn't respect his wife."

"Uh huh, that's great Karen!" Gretchen says. "Should I get the jelly sandals in hot pink or baby pink? I think I'm going to get the heeled ones, Regina says flats are for virgins."

"That's the only thing I don't get," Karen continues, and Gretchen snorts. "Is why you let Regina be so mean to you."

*****

She rings Regina's doorbell and waits for exactly 13 minutes, which she knows because she has to check her phone to make sure that the sleepover was, in fact, tonight because the door doesn't open and there are no cars in the drive. Gretchen shivers and kicks a nearby stone with her strappy sandals, and on impulse steps back to see if there's an open window.

Regina is sitting in her lounge, stretched out over a cream sofa with a champagne glass in her hands that Gretchen knows is full of Barocca. Gretchen's mouth falls into a pout, and she leans over to knock on the window, offering a nervous wave when Regina looks up, unruffled.

Regina closes her eyes for a long moment, and Gretchen fiddles her thumbs while she waits. Eventually, Regina stands and walks over to the window. Her long fingers wrap around the handle before she pushes it open.

"Are those your favourite earrings," She asks.

Gretchen blinks. "I-

"It's just, you wore those yesterday. And on Monday." She sticks her hand out. "Well? Are you coming in?"

Gretchen pulls at her earrings gently. They were new- her godmother had seen heart shaped hoops for sale and they had reminded her of Gretchen, and Gretchen had loved the fact that she had been thought of.

"Uh," she stammers. "Is the door, like, broken?" She tacks a laugh on the end to sound less accusing- it could be really embarrassing for Regina if it is.

Regina sighs. "The doors all the way over there, Gretchen! I don't want to walk to it! Just climb up, don't be a wuss about it."

She gives her outstretched hand a shake, and Gretchen takes it, carefully stepping up onto the windowsill. Regina's other hand slides around her and holds her steady as she falls inside. She hand stays on Gretchen's arm while she straightens and brushes dust off her outfit. Her hand is warm, never clammy. It smells like her rose hand cream.

"Why are you so dressed up?" Regina asks with eyebrows raised, despite her curled hair and pink lips and obscenely tight jeans. Gretchen blushes, shrugs, looks away.

"You try too hard, Gretchen," Regina says, and her hand is still on Gretchen's arm and it squeezes her tight for just a second before letting go. "Come on, we're going to my room."

They walk upstairs side by side, and Regina's heels click against the slick marble. Gretchen always feels cold in this house- its expansive and white and so empty- but Regina won't come to hers anymore. She had said she doesn't like spicy food, and Gretchen had bitten the inside if her cheeks bloody and had switched to school lunches.

They reach Regina's room, and Regina waits for Gretchen to open the door for her. "My mom's not home," she says, breezing past. "She's out buying me presents because she thinks I'm mad at her for asking about Aaron. Oh, don't take off your shoe's when you come in, you know I find feet gross.

Gretchen steps into the room and closes the door silently. "What's wrong with Aaron?" she asks. sitting on the loveseat at the end of the bed.

"Hmmm?" Regina's rooting through her makeup. Gretchen clears her throat. "Oh. I broke up with him. Sit on the bean bag, my mom got these new colours for me, but she doesn't know I'm on a skin cleanse until school starts."

She approaches Gretchen with a pile of products in her arms. "Besides, they don't work for my complexion. You're way darker. Lean back."

Gretchen leans back, and Regina, with a palette balanced on her arm and a tube between her teeth, puts a knee on either side of Gretchen's waist to hold herself in place. Gretchen whimpers, hides it with a cough.

"Ew," Regina comments lightly, leaning forward to put something on Gretchen's lip, hair brushing Gretchen's shoulders. "Open your mouth, you can't get it on your teeth."

Gretchen opens her mouth. Regina sticks her finger between her teeth. "Close," she says, and there's something challenging in her eyes and Gretchen's heart is beating a little top fast and Regina just continues sitting in her lap.

*****  
Regina takes her card from her purse and holds it out between two fingers.

"Take it," she says to Cady. "You can spend a hundred fifty dollars."

Cady blinks, looking at the card incredulously. Regina sneers. "We can't hold your hand every time you fucking shop, Cady! You have to do things yourself. I'm not your babysitter."

Cady glances at Gretchen, who rolls her eyes and nods. She reaches out and grabs the card, and seems to snap out of it.

"You're such a doll, Regina," she says, as if she hadn't just panicked at the thought of spending that much money on clothes. Her accent is completely gone, Gretchen notices. She sounds like she was born and raised in Illinois.

Regina swivels on her heel. "She needs to get her nails done," she says thoughtfully. "She looks like a lesbian when they're short and naked."

"Oh," Gretchen says. "We should all have a sleepover- we can paint each others nails and bake vegan brownies and-"

"Ugh," Regina says. "We can't paint our own nails, that's for poor people."

Gretchen laughs nervously, digging her nails into her palm. They're painted yellow, like the flowers on her playsuit.

Regina walks over to the benches, and Gretchen and Karen fall in line behind her. The benches in the mall are always full, but Regina recognises a group of girls beside the fake palm trees, and they scatter like mice under her glare. Gretchen smirks.

Regina coughs pointedly, and Karen removes her jacket for Regina to sit on. She's wearing a skimpy top under it, and Gretchen hears a Stacy from poli sci mutter something as she moves away. Regina's arm whips out, and Gretchen can see her nails dig into Stacy's arm.

"Stacy!" Regina cries, not even hiding the sickly sweetness in her tone. "Imagine seeing you here!"

Stacy pales.

"I hope I didn't just hear you call Karen a slut," Regina coos. "Girls shouldn't turn on girls just because she's wearing a cute top that you couldn't pull off. It's not Karen's fault you have the figure of a cardboard box and a man's face!"

She squeezes Stacy's arm until it goes white. "Besides, it would be rude of you to call Karen a slut when everyone knows you had a threesome with Daniel Kelly and Lisa Turpin over summer." Her voice rises to a stage whisper. "I heard you gave them chlamydia."

Regina finally drops Stacy's arm, and blows a kiss after her hastily retreating figure. She turns back to Gretchen and Karen with a smile, and pats the bench beside her.

"I didn't mind," says Karen. "But thanks, Regina. That was like, so nice."

When Cady returns, she's holding three shopping bags that seem to be spilling over, and Gretchen is sharing a slushy with Karen. Regina had declared them to be dyed sugar and had refused one, but still snatched occasional bites.

"Hey girls," she calls, cheery. "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find nice clothes when you're ginger!" She drops her bags in front of them. "Oh, Regina, there was actually only one hundred and thirty-seven dollars on the card, but I talked to the cashier and she let me off!"

Regina smiles, but her face twists slightly. Her teeth and gums are stained red.

*****  
They lie side by side on Regina's king mattress, covered in silk sheets. Karen is fast asleep on Regina's loveseat- Gretchen can here her soft breathing. Regina's hair is fanned out over the pillows and she props herself up on her elbow. Gretchen adjusts so she won't have a double chin.

"You can't tell anyone this," Regina whispers, biting her lip as she glances over at Karen's sleeping form. "I'm trusting you here, Gretchen. You're my best friend."

"Of course," Gretchen breathes. This is a side to Regina only she gets to see, only see gets to know. It warms her down to her bones.

"Aaron broke up with me," Regina admits quietly, and Gretchen gasps. Regina flinches back.

"I don't know 𝘸𝘩𝘺," Regina says, tears filling her eyes. Gretchen longs to wipe them away. "He said I was making him a different person, I just-"

Gretchen narrows his eyes. "He's lying to you, Regina. I always knew there was something rotten about him- he was obviously using you to be popular!"

Regina hiccups. "He 𝘸𝘢𝘴 new..."

Gretchen smiles. "Its okay, Regina. You're way out of his league, anyway."

When Gretchen wakes up in the middle of the night, limbs are tangled and Regina's face is pressed into her neck.

When Gretchen wakes in the morning, Regina is already downstairs.

*****  
Gretchen knows about the new girl about an hour after she makes a fool out of herself for running around the halls asking for 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 of all things, but remains impassive until three weeks in, when Regina notices she's sitting at Janis's table.

"Who is she," she asks, pointing her fork flippantly.

"Cady Heron," Gretchen pipes up. "She's new. Apparently she was raised by lions, or something."

"That is such bullshit, Gretchen," Regina drones. 

Gretchen shrugs, face reddening. "I was kidding, obviously. She's just some loser from Africa."

Regina whistles, long and low. "She doesn't know anything, does she?"

Gretchen shakes her head. Regina smiles and leans across the table to catch her hands. "I have an idea," she says, which is how much of Gretchen's problems start. There's a hoot from the varsity jocks table, and Gretchen tries to yank her hands back but Regina grips them tight and flips her hair over her shoulder to wink at the boys.

Gretchen wants to sink into the floor.

Then Cady Heron walks past, and Regina sticks out foot and drawls- "Why don't I know you?"

The girl looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Cute bracelet," Regina tells her, and Gretchen sees worn leather straps around her pale wrist. The don't work with her outfit, although its possible nothing would. Gretchen hasn't seen a girl wear long shorts in years.

"My mom made it," Cady stammers, and it all goes downhill from there.

*****

Gretchen fiddles with her lock before grabbing her French homework. French is her best subject, due to her mom's fluency- even though the teacher is incapable of teaching. 

A hand slams beside her head. Gretchen jumps.

"Hey, Gretchen," Matthew Davis drawls, and Gretchen hugs her binder against her chest. The corridor is empty- class started over five minutes ago. He leans down into her space. He smells like cigarettes and a sporty guy who hasn't discovered deodorant yet.

"Hi, Matthew," she says, tucking hair behind her ear. "Uh, I was just getting my French homework. I need to go back to class."

"Cute outfit," he says, still not moving his hand. She's effectively blocked off. Gretchen brushes imaginary dust off her skirt nervously. It's pink, for Wednesday, and it's new, because wearing the same colour every week without repeating is proving to be difficult.

"Thanks," she mutters. "Sorry, can I just-"

"I was hoping to catch you out here," he interrupts. "I was thinking, it's about time you're my girl."

"Excuse me?" Gretchen says, ice creeping into her tone. She tries to dial it down with a nervous laugh, and he doesn't seem to notice how fake it sounds. She doesn't want to aggravate him- he's 6'3 and plays football and 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳, and Gretchen starts to breathe a bit faster.

"'Cos Regina's hot, but hot like a new car- I can't have sex with a car, you know? And obviously I've already fucked Karen, but," he winks with stubby eyelashes. "I'm looking for something a little more... exotic."

Gretchen swallows down bile.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 you are, Gretchen! We agreed to meet in the bathroom during this period, remember?"

Regina stalks down the hallway like a pink avenger, or something, and her effect is instantaneous- Matthew jumps back several feet, and Gretchen can breathe again.

"Sorry, Regina, I got stuck," Gretchen says, rolling her eyes. She's safe to slip back under a bitch façade with Regina beside her. She moves until she's by Regina's side, and Regina hugs her briefly. Gretchen can smell her perfume.

"Right," Regina says. "Matthew, why were you stopping my best friend from talking to me?"

Matthew shrugs.

"Okay," Regina continues. "I hope you weren't asking her out though. It would be so awkward for Gretchen to tell you that the reason you can't get a girlfriend is because you smell."

Matthew chokes on air.

Regina smiles and laces her fingers through Gretchen's. "Let's go."

She leads Gretchen to the bathroom, which is miraculously empty. Gretchen takes lip-gloss from her denim jacket pocket and applies it carefully, watching Regina out of the corner of her eye.

Regina hops onto the table in the corner and crosses her legs. "Gretchen, you need to tell him to leave you alone! I know you have, like, zero self-esteem, but guys are going to ask you out because you're friends with me!"

"They might ask me out anyway," Gretchen points out, and Regina scoffs. Gretchen looks away.

She hears Regina's heels click as she slides off the table. "Here, I have this new mascara that would make your eyelashes killer."

She pulls a tube out and Gretchen leans forward expectantly.

"Don't be weird," Regina says, hitting the tube off her head. "Put it on yourself."

Gretchen takes the tube off her, and Regina moves her hand so their fingers don't brush.

*****

The movie's barely started before Gretchen realises why Cady chose it.

"Oh my God," she squeals. "You think that's us!"

Cady squirms. "I don't!" She protests. "I just like the movie!"

"Pause it," Regina cuts in, and Gretchen grabs the remote. Movie night is always at Regina's house because she has a 75" TV and key to the room to keep parents out. The room has multiple cream sofas, but everyone is piled over each other on the same one. Gretchen uncomfortable but warm, and Regina's head rests on her shoulder.

The movie pauses, and when Gretchen settles back into the couch, Regina has moved. She lies back on Karen's stomach, who makes a little winded noise.

"It works," Regina says after a slight hesitation. "Karen would be McNamara, because she's nice and stupid."

"It's true," Karen chirps, albeit a little muffled.

"And Cady would be Veronica because she's new!" Gretchen says, but Regina shakes her head. 

"No, Cady's smart, she's Duke."

Gretchen frowns. Cady protests her assessment, saying Duke is into literature and she likes math, but Regina waves her off.

"Obviously I'm Chandler," Regina continues. "She's brilliant, and so am I."

"What about Gretchen?" Karen asks.

Regina looks at her with one eyebrow raised. "I guess that leaves Veronica," she says slowly. "I've seen this movie, Gretchen. Are you going to bring my downfall?"

Gretchen could- she's the only one who knows Regina's secrets. A few stray words could make Regina's whole world crumble around her.

"Of course not," she assures Regina, and only she notices how Regina relaxes, just a little.

*****

Gretchen arrives to the party late, but not by choice. Her mom had had to make several stops on the way, mostly for chores but once to calm Gretchen down and reassure her she looked beautiful in her swimsuit.

It's too cold for a pool party, anyway, so Gretchen walks up to Regina's house with her bag left in the car.

Regina George opens the door herself, holding a tall glass of something pink in her other hand. "I thought you weren't coming!" she squeals, dragging her inside. Her hand is warm and her fingernails are painted clumsily. 

"I'm fashionably late?" Gretchen jokes, and Regina's eyes gleam.

"Where's your swimsuit?" Regina questions as they move towards the back of the house. Gretchen's glad Regina is with her- she would have gotten lost otherwise. The house is huge.

Regina coughs, and Gretchen starts. "Oh. I actually grew out of them over winter and never got a chance to buy more," she lies through her teeth.

Regina's eyes dart down. "Oh my God, I had the same problem this year! Come on, you can borrow from me."

And then she's pulling Gretchen upstairs, and Gretchen's following because she doesn't know what else to do. "I love your pink choker," Regina says without turning back, and her fingers fly to her throat. "It makes such a statement, I could never get accessories like that because then I couldn't wear them twice in a row."

Gretchen's been wearing the choker all week, and she suppress the urge to rip it off.

After the stairs and a sharp right turn, Regina steps into her room.

"It's tiny, I know," she complains. "I'm going to get my parents to swap with me for the master bedroom."

She walks over to a floor-to-ceiling sliding wardrobe, beckoning Gretchen to follow. 

"Here," she says, pulling out a pink swimsuit with no back. "I bought this for when I go to the Bahamas this summer, but you're already dark so you can wear it now."

"Pink's my favourite colour," Gretchen says, taking the swimsuit.

"You can get changed here," Regina tells her casually. "Don't worry, I won't look. I'm not a lesbian."

She turns around, and Gretchen hugs herself for a second before carefully pulling off her top.

"My ex-friend Janis," Regina continues in a hushed voice. "I had to stop being friends with her because I was having a pool party and she told me she's a lesbian and wouldn't be able to control herself around girls in bikini's!"

Gretchen doesn't really know Janis, but can't imagine her throwing herself at girls.

"I'm done," she says, and Regina turns around.

"The necklace is the wrong shade of pink," she muses. "Hang on." She leans over to Gretchen and gently pulls the choker over her curls. Gretchen doesn't breathe.

"Better," Regina says, and smiles. "I think you and me and going to be friends."

*****

"You dyed your hair," Gretchen says, stupidly.

Regina sighs. "Yes Gretchen, I dyed my hair. It's blonde, or do you want to tell me that too?"

Gretchen apologizes, then- "Aren't you worried people in school are going to call you fake?"

Regina shakes her head, then reaches out to pull one of Gretchen's curls. "Ugh, my hair is so gross feeling right now. You're so lucky to have such nice hair, Gretchen.

Gretchen pulls her hair over her shoulder. "Thanks, Regina? You really think that?"

"Yeah," Regina says. "God, I wouldn't be able to pull off an afro."

Gretchen deflates. "Um, it's actually not-"

Regina swings her door open. "Come in, I invited you over to braid my hair." Her voice takes on a whiney tone. "I want it to be wavy for school but my stylist said I can't use heat."

Gretchen takes a step inside. "Can I get some water."

"You're not my Tamagotchi, Gretchen! It's not my job to feed you," Regina snaps. "Come on!"

She walks to the sunroom and sits on a pillow in front of an armchair. Gretchen scuttles after her, takes a seat and ignores how Regina pushes back against her legs. Her hair is only a shade or two lighter- nobody in school would notice. Gretchen curses herself for calling it out, as if she's memorized Regina's natural shade (she has).

Her hair also feels extremely damaged, so Gretchen works delicately. Her legs go numb from Regina pushing against them. Her calves are tickling where Regina strokes her nails up and down idly. At one point, Regina 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘴 and leans her head back into her hands.

"I really need water," Gretchen gasps when she's done, and Regina allows her to jump up and run to the kitchen. Gretchen bends over the sink, tears in her eyes, and breathes. Straightening up, she splashes water on her face and walks back into the sunroom when she's not as flushed.

"I was thinking," Regina drawls from where she's now perched on the coffee table, "we add some rules too our table."

Gretchen makes an inquisitive noise.

Regina waves her hand vaguely. "You know, ponytails once a week, no vests- Karen loves vests, have you noticed that?- and we try to wear pink on Wednesdays, like a tradition."

"Sounds great," Gretchen says. "Um, about Karen. Is she staying? Is she, like, permanent?"

Regina narrows her eyes. "It's like this, Gretchen. Karen's easy, you know? She dresses like a slut, but also like she's seven- we'll work on that- and you said yourself she's already slept with five guys."

Gretchen nods, uncertain where this is going.

"She makes me look better," Regina explains. "With her around, I can wear what I want, tease who I want, have sex when I want, and she'll still be the slut."

Gretchen furrows her brow. "Isn't that kinda mean?"

Regina gives her a long look. "Yes," she says. "It's mean. But Karen won't notice." She pats the coffee table beside her, and Gretchen sits. "Besides, who cares if she notices and doesn't want to be my friend? I've done fine with just you, and you already know I'm mean."

"I know," Gretchen confirms.

She doesn't say it out of resentment, or sadness. She says it because she knows it to be one of the inevitable truths about Regina. Everything she's learned from the past years and everything she's yet to experience lead back to this- she 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 Regina George, and its too late to back out now.

Regina hums. "Whoever doesn't follow my fashion rules won't be allowed to sit at the table with us."

Gretchen stares. "I don't own that many pink outfits, Regina!"

"Just buy more, Gretchen, its not hard."

*****

Regina pulls Karen into the bathroom, and Gretchen scampers across the room to follow them, leaving Cady on the loveseat at the end of Regina's bed.

The door is locked. "Uh, Regina?" Gretchen calls. "The door is locked."

Laughter drowns out her voice. Gretchen bites her lip and falls back to sit with Cady, who's giving her a sympathetic look. Which is ironic, because only weeks ago Cady was at the receiving end.

"Don't look at me like that," Gretchen snaps, and Cady looks away, abashed.

Gretchen sighs. "Sorry. It's just... Is Regina mad at me? I feel like she's mad at me."

There's no way Regina would willingly be alone with Karen, much less purposely when Gretchen's 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. But she can't explain that to Cady, who's beginning to look at Gretchen like she has a few screws loose. Gretchen smoothes her skirt against her legs. More laughter comes out of the bathroom, and Gretchen hates that she knows what Regina's fake laugh sounds like, and hates even more that it's not what she's hearing.

Cady's looking at her like she's a ticking time bomb. Gretchen clears her throat and stands.

"Let's get ice-cream," she decides. "I know where it is, and Regina's off dairy right now, so she won't care."

Cady brightens up, and she looks so much prettier when she smiles. Gretchen blinks, then recovers and walks swiftly from the room. Cady follows, and its weird being the one leading in Regina's house. Slowing her steps, Gretchen lets Cady catch up until they're walking side by side.

The back kitchen of the George household is the coldest room in the house, and Gretchen shivers as she enters, prompting Cady to shrug out of her jacket and sling it around Gretchen's shoulders.

"I never understood why you dress up so much," Cady says cheerfully. "Regina thinks everyone's checking her out, and Karen explained all the work behind being the hot one, but you don't seem interested in any of the boys in school."

Gretchen pulls the jacket tight. "I'm not. The ice-cream's up there, I can't reach it."

Cady accepts this response easily and reaches up to the freezer. Gretchen hops on the edge of a shelf, balances herself, and then takes the carton from her freckled hand.

"Thanks," she says. "I forgot spoons, though."

Cady sighs. "Whore."

There's a silence, then-

"I am so sorry, Regina says I need to start swearing and that its practically a cute nickname, but I feel so terrible, you're not a whore- I don't mind that you forgot the spoons! I'll go get some!"

She's halfway out the door when she turns back to ask where she can find spoons before Gretchen snaps out of it.

"Come back, Cady!" She says. "Its fine- there's spoons in that press, see?" She points, and Cady grabs spoons for both of them. "Thanks for apologising," she adds, accepting the cutlery. "You need to stop saying swear words as if they are swear words." Gretchen smiles. "Take it easy, bitch!"

Cady smiles softly. "Take it easy," she repeats, shovelling ice-cream into her mouth.

Gretchen snorts. "You got some on your nose."

Cady smirks at her. "Oh yeah?"

She flicks ice-cream off her spoon, and it lands on Gretchen's lips. Cady whines at her missed shot, and Gretchen licks it off slowly. 

"So," Cady says suddenly. "You must really like Regina. To, uh, help her out all the time."

Gretchen freezes, closes her eyes. She knew this would come, but she's still running out of reliable excuses. For a brief moment, she imagines red hair burned on her eyelids instead of blonde.

When she opens her eyes, Cady is looking a her, expectantly, and Gretchen does something that surprises herself.

"I don't know who I would be without her," she says, and her throat burns from the truth of it.

*****

"Maybe I'm just a masochist," Gretchen snaps over the line, because Karen won't know what the word means anyway. She knows she's right when Karen doesn't respond.

"You know what, I'll get the baby pink ones," Gretchen says. "Bye, Karen."

"Bye," Karen says, voice airy and light as always. "I love you."

Gretchen coughs. "What?"

They don't say that to each other, not ever. Gretchen knows her sisters' friends toss the words around like free candy, but Regina thinks its weird, and exclusive to boyfriends.

"That's what my mom says when she hangs up," Karen explains easily. "It makes me happy."

"Cute," Gretchen mocks. "You're not my mom."

"I just thought you could use a little happiness," Karen says, and Gretchen hangs up.

**Author's Note:**

> the much shorter answer to Karen's question is that Gretchen's a bottom
> 
> anyway the first and last scene were the same conversation if anyone didn't catch that


End file.
